Dark Hunters
by Kurai Hane
Summary: A troop of magic users from Glen Cook's Black Company Universe cross over into the DBZ universe to learn the art of Ki and rid their world of evil.
1. The Confrontation

Dark Hunters  
  
Warriors In Search of the Light  
  
Written by Kurai Hane   
  
Edited by: Himegimi, and Animé_chick111  
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As you may have quessed, very few of the characters in this story belong to me. They are Ouji, Jade, Dark Wing, Fang and Claw, and their pets. The rest are owned by Glen Cook and Akira Toriama. They are used without permission in a way that is not meant to make any money. This story may only be reproduced if no profit is made, and all the text is left intact.  
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Prologue:  
An Explanation  
  
I am Ouji, captain of the third generation of the Black Company after the Plain of Glittering Stone. We are not the only Survivors, but we lost contact with the others some time during the second generation. Croaker, who still rests at the center of the un-named fortress, tells us that the others are alive and well, but to join with them could bring destruction to the Company. When we asked why, he would not tell us.  
  
We have spent the last fifty or sixty years living in the style of our first remembered Brethren. As mercenaries for hire, we have had honest employers and not so honest employers. The one tradition that we let slip was perhaps the most important. The events of the past years have not been recorded in the annals like they should.  
  
For that reason, I have returned to the Plain to ask for the help, and forgiveness, of Croaker. He is now the oldest and wisest brother of the Company. After trading places with the golem, after the destruction of Kina, he gained the ability to relive the past in all its detail. For this reason, I have enlisted the help of the last Stone Soldier to produce the First Book of Ouji.  
  
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Chapter: 1  
The Confrontation  
  
It was a typical pub, a dimly lit windowless room with well-worn rough hewn benches and tables; a large counter with a cracked and spotted mirror and a floor covered in sawdust and spilt drinks that reflected the dusty almost forlorn looking half empty bottles. The room was filled with the sounds of drunken laughter and the smells of unwashed humanity. The scene was just like every other night except for the small crowd gathered around a large man dressed in black and two small time card-sharks. They were trying to make names for themselves by beating the living legend of Tonk sitting across from them. It was just another night in the Hog's Ear outside the city of Gyrdon.  
  
After another humiliating defeat the more hot tempered of the two leapt to his feet. A slight sway betrayed how much he had had to drink.  
  
"You bastard! How could you? That's the ninth time in a row that you've won!" screamed the short man, gesturing wildly.  
  
The bartender shook his head and repeated the warning he had given with every drink.  
  
"I told you not to try, he's never lost, to anyone."  
  
The man rose, gathered his winnings, and the crowd parted in silence to let him pass. It wasn't till he had gotten out of sight that they let loose loud cheers and cowed the losers into backing out with what little dignity they had left. They saw the victor fading away into the distance as two large falcons lit upon his shoulders. He reached into his black, flowing cloak, and gave each bird a small piece of meat. The two men watched him with a critical eye and then disappeared back into the night.  
  
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Down the street, a thin woman sat at a bar. She was dressed in a black, skin-tight outfit. The image of a jade dragon wrapped itself around her body. As she drank her wine, a dirty man with a foul mind approached her.  
  
"Hey, baby, how 'bout you and me go upstairs?" asked the man, with a sneer on his face.  
  
"Hey, buddy, you wanna stay alive, you leave her alone," warned Sam the barkeep.  
  
"Yeah! Whatcha gonna do 'bout it?" growled the man.  
  
"Nothin', it's her you gotta worry 'bout," said Sam almost comically.  
  
"Yeah right. Let's go," the man scoffed. As he reached for the slender woman's shoulder, he saw the jade dragon on her clothes begin to swell. The serpentine beast lifted its small head from the woman's shoulder and growled menacingly at the man. As the snake-like creature rose into the silenced air, the man tried to scream, but it was much too late for that. He was frozen solid by a blast of icy breath.  
  
"I'm sorry 'bout that miss Jade ma'am. He was a real slime ball." As the barkeep spoke timidly, the dragon wrapped itself around the young woman's body and flattened back into its former resting place.  
  
The woman paid the barkeep and walked out the door. Out in the street, she met with the man dressed in black. They exchanged greetings in subtle hand signs.  
  
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Further down the street, a short man sat at a dark table on the first floor of an inn. As he drank his warm beer from a stein that dwarfed his head, he fingered an amulet hung around his short neck. The amulet was in the shape of two snakes wrapped tightly around a cross.  
  
On the other side of the room, standing in front of the blazing fireplace, a similar man warmed his hands. Around his neck was an amulet of a lizard. He turned from the fire and spoke, "It's time to go." The two men walked out the door. They met with the other man and woman already walking up the street. They nodded to each other and continued walking up the darkened street. 


	2. Preparations

Chapter: 2  
Preparations  
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As you may have quessed, very few of the characters in this story belong to me. They are Ouji, Jade, Dark Wing, Fang and Claw, and their pets. The rest are owned by Glen Cook and Akira Toriama. They are used without permission in a way that is not meant to make any money. This story may only be reproduced if no profit is made, and all the text is left intact.  
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Outside the City of Gyrdon, a large black  
coach, with no hitch, and a man are waiting.  
  
'Where the hell are they?' I thought to myself, 'Oh, here they come.'  
  
"Hey guys, what took you so long?"  
  
One of the two short men decided to speak.  
  
"Keep your cloak on kid. Just because you're the youngest doesn't mean that you're the smartest." That was Fang's spite. He's full of it, spite, that is.  
  
"Alright guys, let's get our shit together. Night Wing, go ahead and relax, we'll be on the road for a while, and tell those birds of yours to stay on their perches this time." Last time this happened, those two birdbrains had flown off to attack just as we left. By the time we stopped, they were two days behind.  
  
With that, the large man in black fell to his hands and knees. His body contorted in what seemed to great agony. His cloak began to form to his body as a long, thin tail grew from his back. Finally, his head changed until he was completely in the form of a large black panther.  
  
"Alright, Cat, you and Jade will be inside with me," he didn't like being called that, but he put up with it. He was more comfortable in his panther form, and we were the only people who didn't run away or try to kill him. I aimed my palm at the crest on the side of the coach.  
  
As the crest lifted to show the coach door, there was a sounding of horns coming from within the city. "Let's go guys. It looks like their going to try to screw us over after all. Fang, Claw, get those creatures of yours hitched up, fast!" Night Wing followed Jade into the coach.  
  
The two short men levitated up to the driver's bench of the coach. Claw went first. He touched the lizard medallion that he wore around his neck, and then he threw his hands forward. With that, a large komodo dragon sprang forth from the medallion and landed in front of the coach.  
  
Then Fang followed in suit. He touched his snake medallion and flung his hands forward. Upon doing so, two large black cobras flew from his chest and hovered in front of the coach. Then in a flash, a hitch appeared. I entered the coach, and, with a jolt, we were off. After this, our final betrayal by an employer, we had decided to return to the plain and seek the guidance of Croaker.  
  
As we sped away from Gyrdon, we looked back to see the Royal Guard of the Baron of Gyrdon in hot pursuit. They were still back there, and that meant that Fang and Claw had something cooked up.  
  
During our service to the baron, he unknowingly financed the construction of a sizable fortress around the Shadow Gate to the Plain of Glittering Stone. This fortress was impenetrable except by brothers of the Black Company, even when left unmanned. This was so because of who watched over the fortress. The eyes of a thousand crows, which give this fortress the name "The Fortress of Ravens," allowed the now immortal Croaker to watch over it. He decided who entered the fortress, and who went through the Shadow Gate.  
  
It was well past dark when The Fortress of Ravens first came into view. What I saw then confirmed my suspicions. Fang and Claw were up to something. Along the top of the wall of the fortress, were over a thousand men armed with the bamboo fire-ball-launchers. Even though the entire fortress was surrounded in light as bright as day, the walls seemed to seethe with a dark shadow. This was clear evidence that the walls were covered with the unknown shadows of The Great Tobo.  
  
At the sight of the heavily protected fortress, the chase was off. The Baron's Royal Guard scattered and fled for life and limb. Which was fortunate for us, because only the fortress itself was real. The shadows and the snipers were all well crafted illusions. As we neared the immense fortress, the doors swung open and we made our way inside.  
  
As I stepped out of the coach, a large white crow landed on my shoulder and spoke into my ear.  
"Fang. Claw. Croaker is very proud. That was a classic Goblin-One-Eye-illusion. Good job."  
  
I could have sworn that those two almost smiled at that one. You wouldn't know it from looking at them, but they were proud. It wasn't every day that Croaker even noticed stuff like that.  
  
We stayed at the fortress, collecting supplies, for a few days. When Fang and Claw weren't expressly given duties, you could always find them dueling in the courtyard. After they had destroyed three carts, I had had enough.  
  
"Fang! Claw! That's enough!" My outburst was promptly met with blank stares.  
  
"I want you two to figure out how to get the coach across the plain. And no more games!"  
  
Four peaceful days later, Fang and Claw came to me with the solution. They showed up with what looked like one of the original badges from the old crew's service with Soul Catcher. I was a little disappointed, but what I saw next made me very happy.  
  
"Alright boss, here's how we'll get the coach across the plain."  
  
"What's this, a badge? What good will that do us?"  
  
"It's not just a badge, it's the coach. Here." With that, Fang pinned the badge to my shirt, just under the corner of my cape, so that it was hidden from view.  
  
"Now, pull the front of the badge off the back, and throw it over there." I removed the front of the badge, and threw it towards the middle of the courtyard. When the badge landed, it exploded. When the smoke cleared, standing in the place where the badge landed, was the coach.  
  
"Now look at the center of the crest. You see the badge in the middle? Take it." I reached forward and grabbed the badge off the crest. When it broke contact, the coach disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I placed the badge back on the pin on my chest, and turned to Fang and Claw.  
  
"Just tell me one thing boys, where did you get the idea?"  
  
"It was Croaker's idea, actually." 


	3. On the Plain

Chapter: 3  
On the Plain  
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As you may have quessed, very few of the characters in this story belong to me. They are Ouji, Jade, Dark Wing, Fang and Claw, and their pets. The rest are owned by Glen Cook and Akira Toriama. They are used without permission in a way that is not meant to make any money. This story may only be reproduced if no profit is made, and all the text is left intact.  
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The next day, everything was ready for our trip to the un-named fortress. We had loaded three carts with food, and one with supplies that would travel all the way across the plain. We were all ready to make the transition to the plain, except for one detail.  
  
"Night Wing, it's time to get the key." Night Wing, still in his panther form, screamed to his birds, and they flew off to the forest that surrounded the fort. Minutes later, they returned with what looked like a canister, and dropped it into my hands.  
  
"I'm glad that you two chose that design for the coach, we were one badge short."  
  
"Actually, boss, we had a few badges stashed away for such an occasion."  
  
I gave Fang, Claw, and Jade each a badge to pin to their shirts, and then hung a badge on a gold chain around Night Wing's neck. He was then hitched to a full cart. Fang and Claw released their beasts and hitched them to two more carts. Each of the beasts received a badge. Next to come was Jade's ice dragon. It too, was given a badge and hitched to a cart.  
  
I turned to the gate that was now outlined by a stone wall. I reached the key through the gate and touched it to the path, which came alive. The first to go through the gate was Night wing. When he reached the gate, I reached down and touched his badge to the key, and then touched the key to the cart.  
  
Next to go were Jade and her pet, then Fang and his snakes, and Claw and his lizard. Each badge and cart was touched in turn. I was last. I touched my badge, passed through the gate, and sealed it behind me.  
  
That night, we stopped at a circle about half of the way down the path. We were making very good time. I placed the key into the socket in the middle of the circle, the circle was cut off from the rest of the path, and we made camp. The pets, which would not tire for at least a week, kept watch while we slept. Though shadows were not as common as they use to be, they were still out there.  
  
The next morning, we were back on our way. I removed the key from the socket, and the path came to life once more. From there, we made our way to the center of the plain. We reached the un-named fortress at dark, and camped for the night. In the morning, we talked with Croaker.  
  
I stood in front of the large golem pinned to the throne with daggers. The large golem's eyes opened and turned to me as the white crow landed on my shoulder.  
  
"Croaker, we have had enough with being betrayed by two out of every three of our employers. We want to go somewhere where they don't know who we are, and have no reason to think they have to betray us."  
  
The crow spoke into my ear.  
  
"It is true that everyone who knows of the Black Company thinks that they have to betray us."  
  
"Our brothers have explored all but one of the healthy gates. Would you allow us to explore this last frontier?"  
  
"This will be an exciting adventure, because this new world has strange magic that even The Lady would not have been able to understand."  
  
"What do you mean, she mastered all forms of magic known. I might never be able to comprehend half of what she knew when she was my age!"  
  
"The magic of this world is a natural force that is not affected by true names. It is a type of energy created by the body that can be used as a weapon. This energy can also be used to levitate."  
  
"What's so strange about that?"  
  
"The power is increased with physical training instead of mental training. Their greatest warrior is a complete dunce."  
  
"As strange as it sounds, I guess it makes sense. We have always known that there had to be another power out there equal to magic, yet completely different."  
  
"If you feel you can come to accept this, I will open the road for your journey."  
  
"We will head out in the morning."  
  
I turned to go back to the others, but then had a thought.  
  
"Croaker, where did you get the idea for sealing the coach in a badge?"  
  
"I got the idea from a very interesting invention in the new world. It is a mechanical process that can put an entire house in a 'Capsule' the size of your thumb."  
  
"And all this is done without magic? How impressive."  
  
The next morning, we finished the contents of the first cart. We dismantled the cart and loaded it into the other three.  
  
We then set off down the path that led to this new world. Being a gentleman, Night Wing allowed Jade to ride on his back because he was unburdened. This left the rest of us to grumble and moan about having to walk. After about an hour of our complaining, Night Wing gave us a look that probably meant something like,  
  
"What are you complaining about? You only have two feet, and you didn't have to drag a cart for two days."  
  
Even if Jade didn't, the rest of us knew that Night Wing had feelings for her. The thing we didn't know was why. What he didn't know, was that she "didn't mind" being around him.  
  
That night, we made camp about half way down the path. We set out again that morning. The next evening, we stopped at the last circle before the gate and made camp. Before we turned in, Croaker sent his white crow to converse with us.  
  
"Hey Croaker, what's the news?"  
  
"There is something you must know about this new world. It is home to a very advanced race of man. They have created machines to replace most beasts of burden, though many are still used. Instead of animal drawn carts, they use machines called hover-cars that fly over the ground, powered by a force similar to lightning. There are also many other things that will seam strange. Be careful, but trust those who seek to befriend you."  
  
With that warning, we all turned in. In the morning, our five-day journey across the barren Plain of Glittering Stone would be over, but our adventure would be just beginning. 


	4. A New World

Chapter 4  
A New World  
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As you may have quessed, very few of the characters in this story belong to me. They are Ouji, Jade, Dark Wing, Fang and Claw, and their pets. The rest are owned by Glen Cook and Akira Toriama. They are used without permission in a way that is not meant to make any money. This story may only be reproduced if no profit is made, and all the text is left intact.  
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The next morning, we prepared to cross into the new world. After we broke camp, we left all of the supplies and animals at the circle and headed toward the gate.  
  
As we neared the end of the path, we dropped to the ground, and crawled to the gate. We found that, unlike the other gates, this one ended inside a large, deep cavern. We decided to move everything through the gate and then scout the opening of the cave.  
  
We returned to the circle and gathered all the supplies. We led the wagons to the gate and paused. I touched the key to the gate. Night Wing was the first to go through, followed by Fang and Claw, jade, the wagons, and finally me, with Croaker's white crow perched on my shoulder.  
  
Once we were through, Night Wing and his birds went to scout the cave and its surroundings, while the rest of us set up camp. He returned that afternoon.  
  
I had gotten so use to his panther form, that I was a little surprised when Night Wing returned as a man. He made his report in the language of the deaf, which we also use extensively in combat.  
  
"The cave opens onto a bluff that overlooks a valley. There is an over grown path, large enough for the coach, that leads down into the valley. There seems to be a small town on the other side of the valley. As I was scouting, I saw a boy playing with a dragon, a flying cat, and a talking pig, so there should be no concern about our animals."  
  
"That's good." I removed my badge and released the coach into the middle of the open area. "Get those wagons unloaded and disassembled. Then load everything into the coach. We move out when we finish."  
  
Two hours later, we were ready to move out. Before we set out, I spoke once more with Croaker's Crow.  
  
"Ouji, make camp in the clearing near the bottom of the path, it is about a mile down the dirt road that leads north from the bottom of the cliff. Wait there until I return."  
  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
"The planets on this side of the plain each have guardians. I am going to approach the guardian of this planet and explain our intentions. If I am successful, perhaps the guardian will assist us."  
  
"In that case, good luck, and god's speed."  
  
We started on our way down the path, the going was slow, but we would make it by mid-afternoon. In the meantime, Croaker's Crow had made its way to the guardian's tower.  
  
A short black and obviously confused man approaches a tall, green, and ancient looking man. "Uh, Kami."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Popo?"  
  
"Kami, there is a crow here to see you."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Popo, I understand. Show him in."  
  
The short man left the room. Shortly after, the large white crow fluttered into the room. It landed on the floor in front of the tall man, spread its wings, and bowed gracefully. The tall Man nodded, and the crow stood and folded its wings.  
  
"Greetings Croaker. Before you plead your case, please tell me the origin of your name."  
  
"I can see where you are coming from, my name does sound foreboding. Actually, it comes from the fact that I use to be the field surgeon for my unit, The Black Company."  
  
"Granted, please speak your case."  
  
"I am Croaker, former captain of The Black Company, and guardian of the Plain of Glittering Stones. In my current position, I can understand the need to protect all worlds from invasion. Therefore, I have come before you to explain my intentions, and ask your advice. My companions and I come from a world ruled by corruption and evil. We were mercenaries for hire. Unfortunately, over the past centuries, we have seldom been employed by anyone who has not tried to betray us. For this reason, we have decided to explore a new world, learn from its people, and return to our own world to conquer the darkness."  
"That is all very well and good, but what is it that you wish to learn from us?"  
  
"The thing that we most wish to learn is the art of martial ki. If you allowed us to learn this art, we could use it to retake our world in the name of good. We would no longer be the target of people who wish to use us and then throw us away, but we would attract the respect that all men are due."  
  
"I believe that you are good at heart, therefore I will grant you your request. In order to become martial ki artists, you must train with three people. First, you must train with Muten Roshi, the world's martial arts champion. Second, you must survive the training methods of Piccolo, the second strongest fighter of this planet. Your third master will reveal himself to you when the time is right."  
  
"Thank you Lord Kami." As the crow spoke, he bowed once more and left. 


	5. Chaos A Plenty

Chapter 5:  
Chaos A Plenty  
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As you may have quessed, very few of the characters in this story belong to me. They are Ouji, Jade, Dark Wing, Fang and Claw, and their pets. The rest are owned by Glen Cook and Akira Toriama. They are used without permission in a way that is not meant to make any money. This story may only be reproduced if no profit is made, and all the text is left intact.  
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We reached the clearing around mid-afternoon. We made camp and started to discuss what we were going to do about dinner. Night Wing mentioned that there was vast wildlife in the area, so we decided to let him take care of dinner. Half an hour later, we were feasting on a large roasted pterodactyl and fish. We were about finished when the crow landed on my shoulder.  
  
"So crow, what do you know?"  
  
"I have just spoken with the guardian of this world, Lord Kami. He said that we are welcome to train in and explore this world as long as our actions remain just."  
  
At that, Claw piped up, "And just what does that mean?"  
  
The crow replied, "That means, you little pest, that as long as you're good little boys, and girl, we get to stay."  
  
Fang took this opportunity to chuckle while Claw just scowled.  
  
I decided to speak up. "That sounds great, did he tell you anything else?"  
  
"Yes, he told me that we are to seek out two men to train with. The first man is known to all his disciples as Master Roshi. Next we are to find a man known as Piccolo. Apparently they are the third and second strongest martial arts masters on the planet."  
  
"What about the strongest master on the planet, don't we get to train with him?"  
  
"Lord Kami said that our third teacher would reveal himself to us when the time came.  
  
"Then we should set off in the morning."  
  
We finished our meal and then got set for the night. Since we would be moving out before dawn, we decided to sleep in the coach instead of setting up camp. Night Wing, in panther form, Jade and I would be sleeping inside the coach, with Jade and I on opposite benches, and Night Wing on the floor. Fang and Claw were another story, for they had another trick up their sleeves. They took their places on the driver's bench and mumbled a spell. Within seconds, they began to shrink, with their arms and legs each splitting into two limbs. Fang soon turned into a spider, and Claw into a scorpion.  
  
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of the wheels moving across rough terrain and feel of the coach shaking. I thought that Fang and Claw had followed orders for once, that is, until I heard the screaming of Night Wing's hawks. I sprang to the view slot, waking Night Wing by accidentally stepping on his tail. His scream, in turn, awakened Jade.  
  
As I looked out the slot, I saw what the problem was. We were rolling down a slope towards the top of a cliff. Fang and Claw were nowhere to be seen. I knew what had to be done, but she wasn't going to like it. I turned and shouted over the noise.  
  
"Jade, we have a problem here, and you're the only one who can fix it! Don't look at me like that girl, you know it's the truth!"  
  
I turned and opened the door.  
  
"Now get going!"  
  
With that Jade moved to the opening.  
  
"Those two are going to pay dearly for this," Jade growled.  
  
A long reptilian tail started to grow from her back. A few seconds later, she jumped from the coach and curled into a tight ball. She then flung her arms and legs outward as she exploded with a white flash. When the light faded, a large, green dragon surrounded by a cloud of black shredded fabric had taken her place.  
  
The dragon flew to the front of the coach. Grabbing hold, it dug its feet into the ground trying to stop the coach from plummeting into oblivion. Straining with all its might, the dragon left deep trenches in its wake as it tried to stop the run-away vehicle. With merely inches to spare, the coach stopped. Summoning immense strength, the dragon turned the coach perpendicular to the slope, to keep it from rolling away.  
  
With our thrilling ride over with, Night Wing and I stumbled out of the coach to see a very pissed off dragon looking for two very unlucky wizards. I raised my hand to the dragon.  
  
"Calm down, I will take care of this. I know something that will hurt them more than death.  
  
"Fang, Claw, get your asses over here now!"  
  
Two very scared looking arachnids crawled out from under the driver's bench on the coach. In a few seconds, they were replaced by a very scared looking pair of wizards.  
  
"Uh, yeah, boss?"  
  
"What did you want?"  
  
"Whose job was it to put the hold spell on the wheels last night?"  
  
The two wizards bleached and turned to each other.  
  
"I thought you did it."  
  
"I thought it was your turn."  
  
"I did it last time."  
  
"No, I did, you did it at the circle."  
  
"No, I did it at the gate."  
  
I decided to interrupt their argument. "I don't care whose turn it was, I should feed you both to Jade, but you'd probably give her indigestion. You screw up like that again, and it's into the jar with the both of you! Understand?"  
  
The two replied in unison, "Yes, boss."  
  
"Now, since it's your fault that this happened, I want you to build a structure that she can change in, and no peep holes!"  
  
An hour later, Fang and Claw had erected a small barn, and Night Wing had returned to his human form. Making a few gestures with his hands, Night Wing produced a set of clothing identical to the one that Jade had been wearing before her transformation, except without the magical dragon image. It was time to make sure that the two responsible for this didn't cause even more trouble.  
  
"Fang, Claw, in the coach, now."  
  
"But, we, I mean, uh, why?"  
  
"Because I know how you two think."  
  
After they walked into the coach, I closed the door and started the incantation.  
  
"Prophets hear, and Dragons feel, In with them their magic seal."  
  
With that, a blue dome encased the coach. The two wizards were completely shut off from the world. While inside the dome, they could not pull any of their tricks. When I turned and looked at the barn, I saw just what I expected, there was a large hole cut in the side of the barn, facing exactly where the pair had been standing.  
  
After we covered the hole, Night Wing handed Jade the new clothes, and she went into the barn. When she emerged, she had regained her original form and was wearing the clothes Night Wing had given her. Jade walked over to Night Wing and looked up into his eyes.  
  
"Thanks for the clothes, they fit perfectly."  
  
She smiled, jumped up, and kissed his mask right where his cheek would have been. Night Wing's eyes became very large, and he almost fell onto his back before regaining his composure and swallowing hard. At a loss for words, he merely shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to one side. I then released Fang and Claw from their imprisonment.  
  
"Dragons roar, and bring them peace, from their cell I they release."  
  
Fang and Claw emerged from the coach to meet my cold stare.  
  
"You two do know what this means, don't you?"  
  
"We don't know what you're talking about, boss."  
  
"I'm talking about your little false wall trick."  
  
"Oh, uh, well, you can't blame us for trying."  
  
"Yes, I can. Remember how I told you that if you screwed up one more time it was going to be the jar for the both of you? Well, in you go. But before you do, I have a question. If I return the coach to the badge, what happens to the stuff inside?"  
  
"Well, it will shrink too. The reason we didn't do that on the plain, is if we needed any of the stuff, we wouldn't have been able to enlarge the coach to get it."  
  
"What about living things, such as you two?"  
  
"They'd just go into a trance and not remember anything from inside the coach."  
  
"And you know this because?"  
  
"We tested it on Claw."  
  
"Oh, real smart guys. So, there would be no problem putting you in the coach and recalling it."  
  
"Nope, no problem."  
  
"Okay then, into the jar with you."  
  
The two perpetrators shrank until they once again took their arachnid forms. I picked them up and put them in the jar I had taken from the back of the coach. I then placed the jar back into the coach. I walked around to the crest and pulled the badge off of the crest. The coach immediately disappeared in a cloud of smoke. About that time, the crow decided to show up.  
  
"So, where have you been?" I asked.  
  
"I found the location of Master Roshi's dojo, and it is in the middle of this ocean."  
  
"That's good, thanks to Fang and Claw, we almost landed in it. But now they're confined. Well, any ideas about how we're going to get there?"  
  
"Ever hear of a catamaran?"  
  
"Yeah, it's a sail powered, two-hulled, Tahitian war boat. So?"  
  
"So, meet me at the bottom of the cliff."  
  
With that, the crow leapt from my shoulder and power-dove down the face of the cliff. He landed on a piece of driftwood.  
  
As we looked up and down the edge of the cliff, we could see no way to go down, except straight down. After looking over the cliff and seeing that it wasn't too tall, I decided to jump down.  
  
I walked about two yards from the cliff edge, turned, and ran toward the cliff edge. When I reached the edge of the cliff, I leapt into the air, and soon felt the tingle of exhilaration rush over my body. As I fell, I almost felt as if I were slowing in mid air, but quickly landed with a thud of boots meeting the white salty sand. Night Wing, who had picked up Jade and levitated down the cliff, was soon standing next to me. 


End file.
